


Strength In Love

by Reda



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26612824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reda/pseuds/Reda
Summary: Goku hears Chi-Chi speaking in her sleep and worries if she'll be okay with the Cell Games happening soon.
Relationships: Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Strength In Love

**Author's Note:**

> Author Notes: An old prompt fic request from Tumblr   
> Pairing: Gokux Chi-Chi  
> Time Period:Pre-Cell Games  
> Words: 966  
> Rating: G  
> Prompt: "Baby, I'm scared." "You don't have to be, not as long as I'm here."  
> Title: Strength In Love

Goku awoke with a start. He blinked, staring at the far wall as his eyes focused. Slowly, he turned in the bed, raising an arm to his forehead. With a frown, he gazed into the darkness up toward the bedroom ceiling, waiting for his startled heartbeat to calm down. Idly, he pushed a blond bang back from his eyes and let out a controlled, steady breath.

Something must have jarred him awake. But what? He couldn’t recall a dream or nightmare so surely that wasn’t the cause. Some outside force then? A quick check of his son’s _ki_ revealed Gohan still and quiet on the lookout, most likely fast asleep.

Slight pulsing warmth beside him let him know Chi-Chi was fine as well. Still asleep herself, curled up on her side facing away from him. Goku smiled and rolled on his own side, resting his elbow on his pillow so he could lift his head up to better admire his wife. Reaching over with his free hand, he brushed back some of her silky black hair, which allowed him to notice the slight tremor in her bare shoulder.

“Baby,” Chi-Chi whispered as if through a fog of sleep. “I’m scared.”

Goku frowned and his frown deepened. “Chi?”

She didn’t answer, except for an unintelligible murmur. Was she still asleep then? He had half a mind to wake her if she was fighting a nightmare. But… maybe he could get away with calming her without forcing her awake to do it.

“You don’t have to be,” Goku murmured into her ear. “Not as long as I’m here.”

A soft, relaxing sigh escaped her in response. He leaned down to kiss her shoulder and rub her side. He didn’t know what she was dreaming of, but it looked like his voice, if not his words, was calming her a little. Good. Then she could continue to get a good night’s sleep.

With his wife falling into a more peaceful slumber, Goku rolled over and returned to dreamland himself. He still had to wonder what had startled him awake, but with no answer in sight he resolved to let the mystery pass unsolved.

~!~

The next morning, their last day before the Cell Games, Goku strolled into his kitchen to see Chi-Chi already eating at the table with a kettle of tea on the stove. He must’ve overslept. Not too big of a deal. He still had one more day of relaxation after all. Licking his lips, he went to make himself a plate of the breakfast she had already cooked.

“Good morning, Goku,” Chi-Chi said, a slight tease in the undertones of her voice. “Sleep well?”

“Mmm, mostly,” he said, stuffing a biscuit in his mouth as he piled up his plate.

“Mostly, huh?” She murmured. “Well, I had an awful dream last night. I’m surprised it didn’t wake me up.”

Chewing on the biscuit, Goku set his plate at the table and sat down as he swallowed. “Really? How bad?”

She gazed down at the wood of the tabletop, running her fingers over her mug of tea. “I dreamed that you died against Cell.”

Goku froze, food halfway to his mouth, and had to take a moment to swallow something else that wasn’t food. The ache seemed to travel down his throat only to settle in his heart. He wasn’t planning on dying, but he knew it was a real possibility. He wasn’t strong enough to beat Cell on his own, but if Cell happened to kill him then that would definitely be enough to awake Gohan’s full rage potential.

“You did, huh?” He manged to say, surprisingly without a shake in his words at all. “Did it scare you?”

Chi-Chi’s eyes jumped to his. “Yeah, but you found a way to comfort me from the afterlife. Though it still felt like it was the last time I would hear your voice. And it was such a lie.”

He frowned, trying not to wince. “Hm?”

“I mean, sure, I have no need to be scared if you’re here, and I never am, but… if you’re dead then you’re not _here_.”

“Hey, Chi,” he said, forcing a little smile to mask the hurt he felt. “You know I wouldn’t leave you alone. Even if something happens and, well… you’d still have Gohan.”

“Right,” Chi-Chi murmured, glancing away from him with a sigh. “I wish I could make you promise not to die on me, but I know that’s not how it works.”

He nodded, swallowed the forkful of food in his mouth, and reached across the table to squeeze her hand in his. It was a hard conversation to have. One he wished they didn’t need to have in the first place. Yet Chi-Chi was so strong to discuss it so calmly with him. Though once he turned her, a shine appeared in her eyes that had been absent beforehand.

“Goku, I -”

“Chi,” he interrupted, tone low and soft, “I’ll do my best not to do anything reckless. But I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Gohan – and the others – safe. You know that, right?”

Her response came after the slow nod and the flow of tears. “Yeah,” she breathed, as she tried to choke them back. “I know. And, honestly, I think I love you for it regardless of whether that means it leaves me without you.”

Goku squeezed her hand again and smiled, feeling honored to have her as his wife. She understood him like no one else. She believed in him like no one else. And she trusted and loved him like no one else. It was no wonder he felt the same toward her, admiring the strength within her even as she faced the possibility of one of her worst nightmares coming true.


End file.
